If you happened to pass by the intersection of Grand Avenue and Broadway last Friday, your curiosity about the throng of would-be barflies wrapped around the block would have been justified. Era Art Bar and Lounge attracted 700 people that night in what may be a recent record-setting opening night.

Era’s veteran operators — Alfonso Dominguez, Kevin Best and Gairy Jacques — were expecting a crowd, but even they were stunned by the turnout.

Meanwhile, across town, a very different crowd gathered at another opening: Beer Revolution on 464 Third St.

Era and Beer Revolution couldn’t be more different.

Era is 5,000 square feet of nightclub carved out of two storefronts at 19 Grand Ave. The two-story lounge fills with DJs, local art and a generally lipstick-and-jacket crowd sitting on handcrafted chaises under handblown light fixtures listening to smooth beats. Dancing is encouraged.

Era is the kind of place where a Drambuie on the rocks seems just as ordinary as a shot of Pig’s Nose scotch, a glass of Hoopla chardonnay or a bottle of Anchor Steam beer.

“It’s unique for downtown Oakland — the style, the location, the throwback ambience,” said Marco Di Luca, a Castro Valley resident who stood with friends on the mezzanine Wednesday night during a private mixer. Other guests sat on the sienna-colored leather sofas under an industrial-looking skylight.

Era “saves us the hassle of going to San Francisco,” added San Leandro resident Joel Sanchez.

Among the three of them, the owners operate about a dozen other businesses in Oakland and San Francisco. They put a year into the renovation, which turned out to be more work than anyone had bargained for. Workers were caulking seams down to nearly the last minute before Friday’s opening.

Jacques (who is in charge of the music), Dominguez (in charge of the art) and Best (in charge of the bar) left no stone unturned in their search for eclectic knickknacks, art and DJs.

“Give me liberty, give me beer.” That was the enthusiastic slogan written by a petitioner on behalf of Beer Revolution when the operators, Rebecca Boyles and Mark Martone, asked the Oakland Planning Commission in December to approve their bottle-shop tavern on Third Street.

Compared with Era, the specialty beer shop is considerably more modest in appearance and size. The owners, however, are just as serious about the alcohol they serve.

The patrons are just as appreciative, except they are more likely to arrive in black denim, driving a motorcycle and sporting tattoos.

They sip pints of beer with clever names like Misspent Youth Pale Ale. (They were sold out of Misspent Youth by 8 p.m. opening night, so I ordered the Death and Taxes Lager. Distracted by a woman with dreadlocks learning how to drink beer upside down from a glass resembling a jam jar with a handle, I forgot my bag there. It was in exactly the same spot when I returned an hour later.)

The concrete floor is painted over, the tables are made from barrels, and the walls are covered with beer paraphernalia. The patio picnic tables, reminiscent of beer gardens in Germany, often are occupied by the denim-clad crew as well as a variety of Oakland’s other locals.

Martone, who identifies himself exclusively as Fraggle, has said he and Boyles had wanted to open a beer-related business in Oakland to entice connoisseurs and ordinary consumers alike with local and international brews. (Martone lent a hand at Linden Street Brewery until recently.)

The final inspiration came from a bottle shop in Belgium where they found U.S. brews unavailable in California. That’s when everything fell into place, and the waterfront-warehouse district location near Jack London Square “just clicked,” Martone said.

“We want to make Oakland a great beer town,” Martone said.

The opening created a beer loop between Linden Street several blocks west and The Trappist and Pacific Coast Brewing Co. to the north. The city had to make an exception for Beer Revolution’s location because the building is so close to other off-site liquor selling establishments. If they hadn’t, the City Council might have had a revolt on their hands.

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